Parents trick their kids from time to time (or all the time), for various reasons. It’s so easy in the early years, they’ll believe anything, really. So much so, it’d really be an oversight for a parent to not deceive their kid somehow.

There’re all kinds of ways we pull the wool blankie over their cute, widened eyes. Let’s look at some examples:

Fooling them for fun: “I’vvvvvvve gotcher NOSE!”

Keeping them well-behaved: “If you keep making that face it could stay that way forever.”

Upholding rules: “No little, Johnny. There are no monsters under your bed. Because they all live in the cookie jar.”

Making life easier: “You want ten more minutes? How about FIVE!? Okay great.”

Protecting their innocence: “Please put Aunt Sarah’s… uh… big wiggling… pen back and stay out of her drawers.”

So. We parents are basically industrial-sized sacks of lies. As you can see, there’s all kinds of reasons we do it, so it’s not like we’re just sociopathic con artists. Some “reality augmentations” can be a bit nasty, sure, but most are just little tighty-whitey lies that make parenting a bit easier or really friggin’ fun.

Be careful, though. They’re little liars in training, and they catch on quick.

3 Comments

Ohmygosh! I am so guilty of doing many of these. Just last week I told my four year old wanted ice cream but I told him when the ice cream truck drives by playing music it means they are out of ice cream. Now every time the truck drives by playing music he tells me that the ice cream truck is out of ice cream. Going to see how long it lasts.

Even when I’m NOT tricking her, my three year old is suspicious. I asked her a while back if she wanted soy or rice milk. “Soy milk” came the reply. I shook the soy milk carton and poured it into a cup for her. She looked at it, then looked back at me suspiciously.
Heather: “Is this soy or rice milk?”
ME: “It’s soy milk darling.”
Heather: “It sounded ricey.”